Be My Escape
by Xxsithl0rdxX
Summary: Draco had one job to do and that was it. He thought all of the love in the world couldn't even save him...until her. Set during 6th year. Rated M for later chapters.


He felt his chest heaving and sweat beading on his brow. _What am I doing? _Hunched over a sink in the prefects bathroom and looking at his ashen reflection, he felt the beginning of a panic attack. Ever since the Dark Lord ordered him to kill Dumbledore, they became more and more common. The issue now was to hide them from the rest of the Slytherin house, and those bloody Gryffindors. Their bleeding hearts and bravery was sickening. _Do they all want to die? Don't they see what he's capable of?_ Thoughts swirling in his head and he punched the mirror, not wanting to see himself fall apart for the third time this week. Blood running through his knuckles and he felt a single tear trail down his cheek. _It's all the same, isn't it?_ He had seen other Mudbloods bright red blood and it looked identical to his own. He gasped so fast that he began to choke and cough.

These thoughts that have been infecting his brain would surely get him killed, or worse, her killed. _Her._ For three years he's been secretly pining after her. Hermione Granger. He could still feel her delicate fist meet his nose from third year. While he clutched his nose in pain, it was impossible to miss the red blood dragging down her fist. The memory plagued Draco's dreams ever since. _It's all the same. It's all the fucking same. _His knees began to buckle, and he was falling to the ground with a loud thud. The sound echoing off the cold bathroom walls, reminding him of how alone he really was. Until the main door opened suddenly, sending Draco scrambling for cover. He couldn't bear to show his face when he was quickly losing control of his composure. A moment ticked by and finally a voice broke the silence. "Ma-Malfoy? Is that you?"

He knew that voice all too well. _Her._ His heart quickened and he thought it would burst. The very thought of her seeing him like this made his stomach roll. _She is the enemy and cannot be trusted. _He waited in silence, hoping she would just scurry off and forget she ever saw anything. Instead, he listened to her footsteps wander towards the shattered mirror. His eyes couldn't resist her as they slid ever so slightly towards her. There she stood, her brow furrowed in worry? Concentration? Her small fingertips lightly running across the bleeding cracks in the mirror and she hummed with an emotion that Draco could not place. As more tears fell and he wished that his self loathing would burn him up right then and there so this moment would end, so everything would end. Hermione looked as she always looked, perfect and put together.

Finally, she took a breath and adjusted her golden eyes so they were looking right into his. "Malfoy, what happened?" She asked as gently as possible. Hermione knew these panic attacks very well. Obviously, she would never tell Harry or Ron to avoid the fuss, and the awkward conversations. She watched as he buried his face in his knees and struggle to catch his breath and her heart ached for him. _Oh Godric, what do I do?_ "Malfoy, listen to me. Just breathe, take big, long breaths." His eyes flashed with panic and his knees hit the tile, but his chest was moving slowly up and down. _Huh, he actually listened. _She looked at him with wonder and couldn't believe he actually listened to her instruction. The boy sitting before her was much different than the one she fought with just hours ago. Draco was his normal, snobby self. His pointy nose in the air with disgust while he bossed his minions around. Nothing unusual about that, right? She thought back to when she saw him in the Great Hall then looked back at him. _What happened between then and now?_

They didn't know how much time had passed as they watched each other, not knowing what to do or say. Of course, he finally spoke up first. "Just go, Hermione." He was surprised on how calm how he sounded, and how her first name felt on his tongue. Her eyes widened a fraction and her breath caught in her throat. The way his raspy voice spoke her name stirred in her belly. She couldn't place how it made her feel but she made a mental note to ponder deeply about it later. For a moment, she wanted him to say it again but stood there dumbstruck. "I-" She started, but his booming voice cut her off. "JUST GO". His head turned down to the floor and she saw a stream of tears on his cheek. Hermione stood in front of him unable to move until he looked at her with stormy grey eyes, and she gasped and ran for the door. 


End file.
